My only hope for the new year is that 2017 is not telling 2016 “hold my beer and watch this…..”
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by David Anderson| 73 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own, OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUDS
My only hope for the new year is that 2017 is not telling 2016 “hold my beer and watch this…..”
Open thread
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Schlemazel
Made my resolutions for 2017:
I will sleep in more
I will exercise about the same
I will continue to overeat
I will not take up smoking
.
I think I can be successful this year, so I got that goin for me
Wishing everyone here a better 2017
Corner Stone
@Schlemazel: I am pretty sure I have one of those nailed down for 2017.
RepubAnon
Yes, 2017 will continue the slide into darkness – my resolution is to keep fighting on the side of light, against the fall of night.
hellslittlestangel
I don’t get all this “Fuck 2016” we’ve been seeing here and elsewhere. I mean:
1. The first ten months of 2016 were pretty great.
2. What the fuck, do you think 2017 will be better?
J R in WV
Well, some neighbors came over early this morning and took out several trees that were hit by the Ash blight and likely to fall into the house if not dealt with.
We had a quiet (not windy) morning before the front comes through this afternoon, one guy climbed the trees with spurs and they used a come-along and long rope to encourage the trees to fall away from the house.
A smaller one went down suddenly when the sawyer hit a crack, and the top broke apart in the creek bed, so they spent some time cleaning that out.
Overall, a good, safe, professional job was done by all, worth every penny. And I’ve got a ton of great firewood near the woodshed now. Not that we need so much, but if we do, there it is.
ETA: And a safe and contented happy New Year to all….
and now I’m gonna go take a nap!
Roger Moore
@Schlemazel:
I thought the classic resolutions were:
1) Talk less
2) Smile more
3) Don’t let them know what you’re against and what you’re for
Corner Stone
Raining pretty steady all morning here in the GHMA. Around 65F or so. Keep hoping for a T-storm to break out but so far it’s just rain. I don’t know how much they’re calling for but seems like at least a couple inches so far, and may get another couple if radar is anywhere near correct.
Roger Moore
@J R in WV:
If your trees are ash, shouldn’t you be turning them into baseball bats or tool handles or something rather than firewood?
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: I’m going with the same resolution I make every year: I resolve to make no resolutions.
Juice Box
It’s raining here which is a good thing. I’ve already given myself a dose of retail therapy via my favorite vegetable seed purveyors.
debbie
I think 2018 will be the good year. 2017 will be the year everyone, even his biggest fans, will realize what a horrible mistake Trump is.
Big Ole Hound
“hold my beer and watch this” is the last thing heard before you dial 911. The problem with 2017 is who is going to answer that call.
Corner Stone
Anyone here familiar with Yamiche Alcindor /her work profile (NYT)? I can’t quite get a read on her but most times I think she is a right wing asshole.
Schlemazel
@hellslittlestangel:
1) I think everyone lost someone culturally significant to them this year so that was unhappy. then there was the whole election thing that ran all year long with the shitty media and insane electorate. That is why 16 was a shitty year.
2) I don’t think anyone here expect 17 to be better and that snece of foreboding just makes 16 look worse
Big Ole Hound
@debbie: I bet he will be gone by 2018 by impeachment, health or resignation.
JJ
@hellslittlestangel: Bowie died on January 10th. 2016 didn’t have a chance.
Corner Stone
@debbie:
Is he a black man? Is his last name Clinton?
Then I seriously doubt they will realize anything true about Trump.
OzarkHillbilly
@hellslittlestangel:
The first 4 months I was dealing with a broken ankle. In September I tore my rotator cuff and bicep tendon and continue to deal with the pain post surgery. So no, the first 10 months were not pretty great, for me anyway. ;-)
Kryptik
With the usual suspects like Conway proclaiming that people ignore Russian involvement and Trump’s love affair with Putin “For the good of the country” with the world’s loudest unspoken “or else”, can I propose a corollary to Cleek’s Law?
“Today’s patriotism is inevitably defined by today’s conservatism, exclusively.”
Because goddamn, the utter gall of still being lectured and hectored about true patriotism by the folks who sold their own asses to their Russian Strongman Idol is just…..gah.
Yarrow
@hellslittlestangel:
Maybe for you they were. In the first six months of 2016 I attended more funerals than I’ve attended in the last five years combined. One of those was my mother’s. I could go on about the continuing losses in almost every conceivable form, but no one would believe me. It’s been a grueling and awful year.
I talked to a few family members over the holiday season and they said, “2017 has to be better! It can’t get much worse!” in a bright tone. I would just laugh. I don’t see why it “has to” be better. It could be worse. It could be better. It will be what it will be.
Kryptik
@Corner Stone:
Just as importantly, is he a Dem? No? Then he’s already treated with the assumption of credulity and respect in everything he does, regardless of past behavior or reputation.
debbie
@Corner Stone:
If coal’s not King, then I think they’ll know.
hellslittlestangel
@JJ: It would be nice to have one of those years where no one important died. You know, like 20,522 BCE.
Corner Stone
@JJ: Scalia died in Feb* so that was some redemption for the year 2016. But then the R’s full force disrespected the POTUS by denying even a hearing or in most cases meeting the SCOTUS nominee.
*For some reason the date was not burned into my memory so I went to google it. I typed in Alito dead for some reason instead of Scalia. I sure F’ng hope the men in the dark suits don’t show up for a few questions.
OzarkHillbilly
@Corner Stone:
If he was a black man or a Clinton they wouldn’t have to realize anything true then either. Delusion is a drug they take daily from their dealer FOX news.
oldgold
The bizarre and frightening tweets continue.
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump · 3h3 hours ago
Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do. Love
hellslittlestangel
@Yarrow: I didn’t mean for me personally. No one should be particularly interested in my opinion of how a year went for me personally.
Kryptik
@Yarrow:
Even with the personal, subjective experience of 2016 put aside, we lost Bowie, Rickman, and Glenn Frey within an 8 day period in January, among other deaths. That’s already a terrible start.
Betty Cracker
@Big Ole Hound: I hope you’re right, even though that would mean Prez Pence. The Bible-humping granny starvers will be running the government regardless, and at least your scenario would remove the nukes from a brittle narcissist…
Yarrow
@Corner Stone:
To realize anything true about Trump they have to realize something true about themselves. That they got taken by a con man. That they put their issue – hatred of non-white people, women, party, elites, Clintons – ahead of the good of the country. I don’t think they will do it. There’s a whole house of cards there waiting to fall.
Betty Cracker
@oldgold: Wherein “enemies” are defined as the majority of Americans who voted against him.
hellslittlestangel
@Betty Cracker: I think Pence would be a MUCH worse president than Trump. Trump is foremost a colossal phony; Pence is a true believer.
Hungry Joe
2017 (which will be forever known as The First Year of the Shitgibbon) is going to make 2016 look like 2015.
Tonight we’re hosting our annual East Coast New Year’s Eve party. We invite mostly neighbors, so there’s little or no driving, and celebrate the New Year at 9pm our (San Diego) time. By ten or so everyone has left, and by midnight we’re deep into REM-land.
Yarrow
@Betty Cracker: He has done nothing whatsoever to indicate that he recognizes he will be the president of all of the citizens of the USA, including those who didn’t vote for him. I do not see any indication that he wants to be president of those who didn’t vote for him. He’ll be president of those who love him and everyone else is an enemy.
hellslittlestangel
@Yarrow: Yes. The one thing that most people will relentlessly refuse to do, no matter their intelligence, personality or political persuasion, is admit that they got taken. It’s like a sunk cost fallacy, but with judgment instead of dollars. Con men know this well.
Yarrow
@hellslittlestangel: They’re bad in different ways. Pence is a true believer and probably more skilled at getting horrible bills passed into law. He is horrible in normal ways, though and unlikely to do things like turn us into a satellite state of Russia, get involved in a massive trade war with China because of his ego, or decide to drop nuclear weapons on someone because they didn’t show him enough respect. The guy taking the job is capable of all of the above and probably some stuff we haven’t though of yet. His unpredictability is scary.
Kryptik
@Yarrow:
And to remind, Obama went out of his goddamn way to declare he would be a president for all Americans, not just for the ones who voted for him.
And most of those Americans decided to spit in his face and blame him for everything for the next 8 years.
The sad and depressing thing is that Trump’s approach may end up being more effective politically, despite being abhorrent in every other way.
geg6
@JJ:
This. It was all downhill from there.
Corner Stone
@Betty Cracker: Well, that’s an interesting question. I wish someone could ask him to define who he meant when he said “enemies”? And not give him any help with context. Just let it hang there, naked, and let him answer who he believes are his enemies.
laura
@hellslittlestangel: well, Lemme died on December 27th 2015, and then Bowie and a shit-ton of others.
A Fascist rose to power with astonishing ease and will will be sworn in shortly.
My mother’s long sad tango with dementia ended in August.
My Governor’s dear, charming and beloved dog died yesterday.
This year’s for shit.
hellslittlestangel
@Yarrow: A President has to have a cooperative Congress to do much of anything. Pence would have that. They think he’s a dolt, but they share his agenda. Trump, on the other had, they really see as a useful idiot. They’ll hand him bills and say, sign here. But they won’t let him do anything that might hurt their chances at re-election. On the record, they’re behind Trump, but I suspect they have as much contempt for him as Democrats do.
Yarrow
@Corner Stone: We know his enemies aren’t Russia and Putin. We can start with that.
Elizabelle
@oldgold: Had TV on for 30 seconds. While switching channels:
there’s some young male reporter(?) on CNN’s Headline News calling that Trump tweet “an olive branch.”
When clearly, it’s a poke in the eye.
Before that, he and the blonde anchor agreed that Trump is so clever, he can express wishes to his supporters and non-supporters in less than 140 words. What a smart guy!
Click, went the remote.
ETA:
“those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do.”
I mean, come on. What a spiteful jackass. Although we knew that going in.
geg6
@Elizabelle:
Jeebus goddam Christ on a fucking hockey puck. This is why the only thing I ever watch on CNN is Anthony Bourdain.
Yarrow
@hellslittlestangel: In a political sense, yes, Pence is scarier. In an existential sense, Trump is scarier.
Sure, you’re right, they’ll hand Trump bills and he’ll sign them and they’ll do what they can to keep him from hurting their reelection chances. But Trump is a wildcard. If Paul Ryan or McConnell pisses him off, Putin talks to him and tells Trump not to sign that bill, then all bets are off. Trump is for Trump. If those bills that come to his desk don’t give him what he wants, he’s not going to sign them. If they think they can control him they’re delusional.
Pence would work hand in hand with the GOP Congress to pass everything. Trump may not do that. Pence wouldn’t blow us all up in a nuclear war. Trump might. Different types of concerns with each of them.
oldgold
I am convinced the Rooskies have a video tape of Trump they are blackmailing him with.
It shows him taunting a disabled person, dissing a Gold Star mother and vulgarly bragging about physically assaulting women!
SWMBO
@Yarrow: As a true believer, Pence is worse. He will believe he is an Instrument of God and it is his duty to bring on the Rapture. True Believers will ascend to heaven and the evil liberals and their sinful friends will have 7 years to suffer and repent before being judged unworthy of heaven ( because the God of “Love one another” hates the same people True Believers do! FTW!)
CaseyL
@Kryptik: It’s a truism: people who don’t care what damage they do in order to get what they want generally come out on top. Because their opponents generally do care about damage, and therefore hold back.
The people in charge now don’t care what damage they do in order to get what they want – and I don’t mean just the incoming Gang of Sociopaths, but their enablers in Congress.
How does the country survive that?
Depends on how you define “survive.”
ruemara
@Betty Cracker: They already are. That was the agreement that got Pence onboard as VP. Most powerful VP ever.
HRA
My wish for everyone is that we will be able to cope with whatever comes in the new year and at least have happiness in some part of our lives. Our comfort of the last 8 years is soon to end. That is a stark given now.
My three years of Latin studies kept telling me it’s Caligula at one point of this abominable person DT. Lately I keep seeing him as Nero who fiddled on the balcony when Rome burnt. It’s truly unbelievable to have these thoughts.
Some will most likely think it’s too late and I cannot blame anyone for it when I can say a lot of progress has been made in dealing with my in house Trump voter. I give a lot of credit for the posters and your comments here who have helped me keep up with events and writings.
Happy New Year to everyone!l
RealityBites
I still have problems completely accepting this situation. If someone “wins” a sporting event by cheating and criminal activity, he or she loses the prize to the closest opponent. But someone can ” win” the presidentcy through criminal activity and collusion with a foreign government and he gets to be sworn in? How can it happen? How can there be no process to stop this? And if Trump does somehow get removed, the Rethugs get to keep the prize? It is f***king unbelievable.
Yarrow
@Elizabelle: They want SO desperately for Trump to be that which he is not. They were slavering over any sign of the mythical “pivot” so hard I thought they’d need saliva infusions. The pivot never happened. They want desperately for him to be a typical president who recognizes he is president of the entire country. He is not going to do that. This tweet is not that. But they see what they hope is there. It’s all projection on their part.
Kryptik
@RealityBites:
Because sports have rules. Politics, sadly, have suggestions and conventions, only strong enough as the willingness to enforce them.
The only way it’d be similar is if home teams got to provide their own refs.
geg6
@Betty Cracker:
Gotta agree. I know how to fight President Pence. Been doing that for years as he is your average wingnut GOPer who jumped at the chance to run with Trump because he was adept at failing up. We have experience with guys like him and he’ll fail as a president without much help from us, I think.
We have no idea how to fight back against That Man. That has become very clear to me. And he liable to do anything. And everything. It’s an impossible situation. It’s kind of like a political Kobiyashi Maru (sp???). We need a Kirk to figure out a cheat around the dilemma. Picard (Obama) isn’t working. We need a Kirk.
Another Scott
@hellslittlestangel: They’re both horrible. Pence has a record so we have some idea of what he would try to do and how he would work with our existing system to destroy 50+ years of progress. Trump is a brain-damaged narcissist. Nobody really knows what he will try to do…
It’s not obvious that either one will be able to do what they want. We’ve got to make it as difficult as possible for them to destroy our progress by fighting them every single day (with periods, even).
Cheers,
Scott.
RepubAnon
@Yarrow: Trump: putting the “Con” into “Conservative. Meanwhile, the major media types keep printing “stories” rather than reporting truth. They want everything to be the same as it was.
Watch the BBC Series “The World at War” about WW2. Hitler’s rise, and the moods of the German people, are particularly prophetic. The German press treated Hitler much as the mainstream media treats Trump, which is also disturbing to watch.
Elizabelle
@Yarrow: You called it.
Schlemazel
@geg6:
And even Tony has become a bigger douche since the move to CNN
geg6
@Schlemazel:
Yeah, but then he does a show on Jerusalem and I think he’s the best journalist on tv. A fucking self-declared second tier celebrity chef who is famous for travel shows and cooking competitions is often the most incisive foreign correspondent in American journalism. Pretty damning, I think.
Это курам на смех
Maybe five percent of Trump voters will see the light. The rest will spend the next four years with their fingers in their ears singing “La la la la la.” Denial, river, etc.
zhena gogolia
@RealityBites:
The process was the Electoral College. It failed.
JJ
@Corner Stone: You’re right re: Scalia; that was a bright moment. We can only hope that 2017 puts a big, fat thumb on our side of the scale. We’re overdue.
Mandalay
White male privilege is alive and well in SC….
So, you beat your wife and threaten to kill her in front of the kids and the judge sets bond at $20,000. Try that stunt if you’re black.
hitchhiker
@Mandalay:
As we’ve all learned, you can’t go into your own home in broad daylight if you’re black and that home is in the wrong sort of neighborhood for people like you. You can’t be a child playing with a toy gun in a store that sells them. You can’t be a child playing with a toy gun anywhere, in fact.
Mnemosyne
@hellslittlestangel:
Paul Ryan thinks he can end Medicare and Social Security and not hurt his chances for re-election, and he’s probably right. So we’re pretty fucked.
Mnemosyne
@hitchhiker:
Correction — John Crawford was an adult fooling around with an air gun in a store. In a state that allows open carry … as long as you’re white, that is.
rikyrah
I hear you, Mayhew.
Beatrice
I got my Balloon Juice calendar today! Right on time for the New Year!
hellslittlestangel
@Mnemosyne: Right-wingers have been trying for decades to get rid of SS and Medicare. I don’t think they can do it. But this go-round they’ll probably be able to degrade them by doing things the media will find too difficult to analyze and explain (ie: introducing bills of less than 140 characters).
Mnemosyne
@hellslittlestangel:
You’re more optimistic than I am. Ryan has his repeal bills ready to go as soon as the new Congress is in session and a plan to ram them through via reconciliation in a way that requires almost no one to be on the record.
I would not advise underestimating the Republicans at this point. They conspired with a foreign country to win the election. What makes you think they’re suddenly going to hold back now?
J R in WV
@Roger Moore:
Nope. I don’t need tool handles or baseball bats, I need firewood. The guy who came over started things on his farm, cutting at least a hundred bigger ash trees so far, he has a saw mill, and will be making his into flooring, which he needs to finish his big house.
He’s an odd duck, but interesting. He bought an old antique sawmill, the iron parts anyway, and built a functioning sawmill on his farm. Used it to mill all of the lumber for a big old farm house up on a ridge, above the head of a holler. Finish flooring is about all that’s left to do, and ash makes a good flooring lumber. He also keeps livestock, beef cattle, hogs, chickens, big truck garden.
Mnemosyne
@J R in WV:
Sounds like he will be a very useful neighbor to cultivate for the upcoming apocalypse. Have you and your wife started figuring out what you can barter with him? Maybe she knits, weaves, or sews?
/kiddingonthesquare
Another Scott
@Mnemosyne:
It’s my understanding that Reconciliation only works if there is a federal budget to go along with it.
The Congress has been unable to pass a federal budget for ages. There’s little reason to believe it will be easier in 2017 than it has been in recent years.
CBPP talks about other constraints:
There are lots and lots of details, and chances for monkey wrenches (of various sizes) to be thrown into the process. Yes, it’s possible that they’ll use Reconciliation to trash 50+ years of progress, but it’s not a foregone conclusion that they’ll succeed in doing all they want. Not if good people fight.
Cheers,
Scott.